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Help Designing My First Mini-ITX?

T

Tinkermaths

n00b
Joined
Jun 20, 2013
Messages
3
Basically I need a video editing and gaming machine which I can easily fit into a suitcase or something and travel to a different city about 5 times a year. Apart from that it'll just sit on a desk as a normal desktop PC. Hopefully mini-ITX is for me?

I was looking at the Alienware X51 because it's so nice and small, but I've heard I could custom build better.

I'm in Australia so it'd be great if you could pull suggestions from pccasegear.com or http://au.pcpartpicker.com/

Filled in the sticky:

1. What will you be doing with this PC?
Adobe Premiere, Photoshop etc, Gaming, Audio recording, Web browsing.

2. Will you be overclocking?
Probably not.

3. What's your budget?
A flexible $1500

4. Where do you live? Do you have any big B&M (brick and mortar) computer chains nearby (e.g. Microcenter, Fry's, etc)?
Australia, online is best.

7. What specific features do you need in a motherboard?
Nothing in particular. A bunch of USB and at least a couple video outputs.

8. What resolution output do you need?
1080p for up to two monitors.

9. Does this system need to fit into a particular space and do you need an optical drive?
I don't need an optical drive. Needs to fit easily into a bag I can take on a plane.

10. How comfortable are you with custom case design/modification and electrical wiring? What tools do you have (Screwdrivers/Leatherman, Drill, Dremel, Metal snips, Soldering Iron, Bending Brake, CNC/Welding machines/Plasma cutter, etc...)?
I'm only comfortable with the basics. I've built a basic PC in the past, but it only required screwdrivers.

11. How important is the noise/silence of this sytem?
Important, but moderately loud while under load is acceptable

12. How mobile does this system need to be? Need a carrying handle or carrying straps? Is weight important (carry-on bag, etc)?
Weight and size important for air travel. Don't need handles etc.

13. Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
No.

14. When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Immediately, in a couple weeks, 3-5 years?
Within a week.

Thank you for any help!!
 
When you say "take on a plane", do you mean carry-on (in the cabin) or checked baggage (in the belly of the A/C)? Also, have you selected a piece of luggage for the computer? If so, what are the interior dimensions?
 
Good question. Nothing in particular chosen yet, but I'm thinking carry-on would be best. Ideal would probably be a backpack along the lines of this - http://www.amazon.com/Samsonite-Techtonic-Large-Backpack-Black/dp/B004YZD6KI (I'd put it in a cardboard box with some bubble wrap etc). Dimensions are apparently 18 x 13.5 x 8.5 inches.

I'm open to any other luggage suggestions too.
 
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mini-itx is definitely for you
no water cooling if you take it onto a plane, not that you should need it if you aren't overclocking

for cases, the size of a cm elite 120 advanced or silverstone sugo series will probably be as big as you want to go; imo bitfenix prodigys are too big for carryon if you want to give yourself some leeway for other items you might take on your trips
 
Designing? Or just component selection? SG-05 is the way to go unless you want a lot more flexibility.
 
FSMITH010 said:
Is this a security issue? How would they know it was watercooled?
Click to expand...

I'm thinking avoiding leaks. AIO liquid coolers can be fragile.

I traveled several times with my mini ITX rig built in an Antec ISK 300-150. You will be limited to a low profile Radeon 7750 for gaming graphics, but you can have your Intel quad core CPU.

Radeon 7750 benchmarks

Note that while some of the framerates look low, many of the games are set to "high" or "ultra" quality. If you aren't playing the most demanding games and don't mind not using higher image quality settings, you can absolutely game on this card.

The best thing about the Antec ISK 300-150 is that I used a notebook messenger bag to carry mine. My bag is even slightly padded. I put some ½" rubber feet on the bottom of mine so I didn't have to carry around the little stand that comes with the case. You'll want it off the table top so that the graphics card can breathe through the holes on the bottom.

Here's one potential build using this case, with parts and USD prices drawn from some leaky memory.
Antec ISK 300-150 case/PSU $80
ASRock B85 chipset ITX motherboard $85
Core i5-46XX CPU $200 (Haswell for low power draw)
stock CPU cooler $FREE (if properly installed is sufficient)
16GB 1.35v Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM $120 (low voltage and super low profile perfect for this little case)
Antec Tri Cool 80mm fan $6-8 (depending on sleeve or ball bearing, case comes with one sleeve bearing unit and an empty spot for a second one, with a special place for the included fan controller, must be installed before motherboard goes in)
Sapphire Radeon 7750 low profile $100 (comes with bracket and mini HDMI, mini DisplayPort and full sized DVI ports, most other cards only has two ports with the third not usable in such a case)
1TB notebook HDD $90 (for data storage, remap the user "My-" directories to this drive)
240-256GB SSD $200 (for Windows and all software)

Hmmm, under $900 USD. Can either leave it this way, or bump up some specs. for instance, another $130 for a Core i7 might be good for Photoshop/Premiere. Another $200 to double the capacity of the SSD.
 
FSMITH010 said:
Is this a security issue? How would they know it was watercooled?
Or is it because it will blow-up in flight? Don't they ship the Newegg parts via-plane?
Click to expand...

if you put it through a scanner during security check they will notice right away
not sure about australia but in the US we cant bring any water on flights as a carry-on
 
EnzoFX said:
Designing? Or just component selection? SG-05 is the way to go unless you want a lot more flexibility.
Click to expand...

Yeah, just component selection.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I'm currently deciding between the larger possibilities (CM Elite 120/Fractal 304) which sound like they'd fit my massive old 11" Asus 6870, which would be kinda nice. Or I may go with that SG-05 or Antec ISK 300-150, which seems fantastically small.

And I just want to check - a relative newcomer to custom PCs like myself should be able to put together a mini-ITX without any trouble, yeah? It's not too difficult to fit all these little pieces together?

Zap said:
I traveled several times with my mini ITX rig built in an Antec ISK 300-150. You will be limited to a low profile Radeon 7750 for gaming graphics, but you can have your Intel quad core CPU.

Radeon 7750 benchmarks

Note that while some of the framerates look low, many of the games are set to "high" or "ultra" quality. If you aren't playing the most demanding games and don't mind not using higher image quality settings, you can absolutely game on this card.

The best thing about the Antec ISK 300-150 is that I used a notebook messenger bag to carry mine. My bag is even slightly padded. I put some ½" rubber feet on the bottom of mine so I didn't have to carry around the little stand that comes with the case. You'll want it off the table top so that the graphics card can breathe through the holes on the bottom.

Here's one potential build using this case, with parts and USD prices drawn from some leaky memory.
Antec ISK 300-150 case/PSU $80
ASRock B85 chipset ITX motherboard $85
Core i5-46XX CPU $200 (Haswell for low power draw)
stock CPU cooler $FREE (if properly installed is sufficient)
16GB 1.35v Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM $120 (low voltage and super low profile perfect for this little case)
Antec Tri Cool 80mm fan $6-8 (depending on sleeve or ball bearing, case comes with one sleeve bearing unit and an empty spot for a second one, with a special place for the included fan controller, must be installed before motherboard goes in)
Sapphire Radeon 7750 low profile $100 (comes with bracket and mini HDMI, mini DisplayPort and full sized DVI ports, most other cards only has two ports with the third not usable in such a case)
1TB notebook HDD $90 (for data storage, remap the user "My-" directories to this drive)
240-256GB SSD $200 (for Windows and all software)

Hmmm, under $900 USD. Can either leave it this way, or bump up some specs. for instance, another $130 for a Core i7 might be good for Photoshop/Premiere. Another $200 to double the capacity of the SSD.
Click to expand...

Wow, that is really tiny. Is the 7750 the best low profile GPU around?
 
Last edited:
Tinkermaths said:
Wow, that is really tiny. Is the 7750 the best low profile GPU around?
Click to expand...

That is commonly available today from multiple brands? AFAIK yes.

In the past there have been random one-off low profile cards which were dual slot, or required extra power. Those are not suitable for the ISK 300 series case.
 
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